


When the Flag Falls

by foroguemon



Category: Super Mario & Related Fandoms, Super Mario Bros. (Video Games)
Genre: Affairs, Character Death, Cheating, Crack, Crack Treated Seriously, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, Extramarital Affairs, F/F, Heteronormativity, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Mild Smut, Sad Ending, Suicide, This is just pretty depressing, can’t believe even archive makes AD references now, don’t read this for fun, its not very fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-20
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-17 03:07:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29586285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foroguemon/pseuds/foroguemon
Summary: Mario and Toad had, for as long as they could remember, shared long longing looks to each other across the room. Both too scared to act on their desires, both driven to different extremes; whilst Mario chose to conform to everyone's expectations of him, Toad never believed that he could be good enough.
Relationships: Kinopiko | Toadette/Kinopio | Toad, Mario & Peach-hime | Peach Toadstool, Mario/Toad (Nintendo), Peach/Toadette (Nintendo)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 1





	1. Love Burns Like Lava

Mario and Toad had, for as long as they could remember, shared long longing looks to each other across the room. Both too scared to act on their desires, both driven to different extremes; whilst Mario chose to conform to everyone's expectations of him, Toad never believed that he could be good enough.

Their friendship had always been termed as one with 'unusual ardour', with every affectionate touch and lingering gaze brushed off by the guards insistence that they were simply very good friends.

There was only one time where Mario gave in to his most carnal desires and stole precious moments with Toad in Princess Peach's chambers. He became disgusted at what he had done and ordered Toad never to speak of it again. Through the years, though, neither of them forgot. Still, every once in awhile they caught the others eye in a moment of clarity and longing, both wishing they could have a moment like that together again. Then, the moment passed and they returned to the motions of their unfulfilling heterosexual relationships, utterly miserable but each convinced that this would be better than any of the unspeakable alternatives.

But little did they know that their respective partners, Toadette and Peach shared a similar bond. When left alone behind closed doors, they forgot about the world for a while, and made love for hours. Peach laid awake one night as her mustachioed partner slumbered next to her, dreaming of mushroom men. She lamented her situation and fantasised over the notion that Toadette could be her wife. White carriages and pink bouquets flitted behind her eyes, only to awaken to an empty bed and a broken relationship.

Toad, after years of pointless pining, finally decided that whilst Mario was out of his grasp forever, merely a tantalising notion he could never quite grab, he could still take tentative steps to make his life more bearable, more worth living- even if he could never have him. He would have to move on, even if he never truly could forget the moments they’d shared along with all the ones they were never allowed.

The next morning, Toadette awoke alone to a note on the bedside table. Toad wrote about countless other things to distract from the fact that he was leaving, only saying that they simply weren't good for each other, they could never have worked, and countless other meaningless platitudes. A smile crept across her face, despite her melancholy at losing someone who she’d eventually come to consider as a friend, even with all of her false affections. All this would do, though, is allow her to indulge ever further in the foolish dream that her and Peach could one day live together, enjoying the simple pleasures of domestic life so cruelly denied them. She knew it was foolish; hopeless even. But she couldn't be upset for simply allowing herself to dream.

The news felt surreal the day it reached Mario. A blank faced Toadette had announced her husband’s departure to the table at noon. He found a glimpse of a cryptic expression in his wife’s eye, which Toadette seemed to return somewhat greedily. 

Odd as it may be, heartbreak bypassed Mario completely: his mind went straight to anger. He’d always known Toad was a selfish prick, running off to save himself whenever he was forced to face the front lines. But this was another kind of selfish. This was emotionally selfish. Toad had betrayed the kingdom, their relationship and Mario couldn’t find an excuse for it. Not this time. 

He pushed back his chair and muttered a low “mamma mia” under his breath, walking out of the room and into the hallway outside.

He stopped. Something caught his eye.

Opposite the staircase to the princess’ bedchamber stood a table. Quite unremarkable. Quite unnoticeable. But Mario did notice.

He noticed the way the table leaned slightly to the side. How it shook minutely when he brushed his fingers over the surface. He remembered how that table had ended up this way.

It was only a few months ago. When Toad has given him one too many sly glances across the room. He hadn’t been able to control his desire, dragging the small man into the corridor and kissing him passionately against that table. That fucking table.

Something clicked slightly in his brain. That night had been one of the best and most memorable of his life. But the one image that flashed back to him then was of Toad’s face. He’d worn this look, a look of anguish when Mario first leaned in. It puzzled him for just a moment and then faster than a bullet bill, it hit him.

Toad wasn’t selfish. He was the least selfish mushroom in the castle. What he was, was scared. Guarded.

Toad had run away to protect himself. He was terrified of what the kingdom could do to him. He lacked the franchise armour that Mario had, and feared for his life.

And though fear is a streak in the mane of selfishness, it is the most forgiveable.

And if only he could have seen that until now, until Toad was lost to him perhaps forever. And how had he acted after that moment? A second later, he had regained control of himself and shuddered at what he had done. How he had betrayed everything he so desperately wanted to stand for again and again.

And he was still doing that. Even now in the moment his lover was gone.

And for as long as he was still here- for as long as he still was he would keep making these mistakes. Keep fucking up time and time again. He had tried for so long to ignore it, to shove it down in the deepest recesses of his mind, but in that moment it all came back to him. Every time he had given up on repressing that horrible part of him; every time that he had been weak. 

Absentmindedly he wandered up the twisting steps of the castle he had once considered a kind of home. Now it all seemed foreign to him- all wrong. Where had he started going wrong? Why had he done this? Why was he still doing this? His burning shame only served to make him walk up the staircase faster as he became lost in his thoughts.

Eventually, he began to feel the fresh air again, nearing the top. When was the last time he had felt alive? Truly alive? He supposed it was only in those brief, stolen moments with Toad. He wanted nothing more than to seek him out once more. To apologize for his selfishness, for putting his reputation ahead of the only person that could give his life true purpose.

But now he was gone. Driven away by his actions. He wished he could summon up anger against Toad. He wished he could even be upset. But through it all one unerring thought remained: Toad was right. He was right to leave him still acting so selfishly as he was. No matter how desperately he wanted to, he could not blame any of this on Toad. He knew exactly who to blame however. Himself.

It was all his fault in the end, and he could never have felt the true extent of the anger he believed Toad was experiencing. But he felt enough.

The wind whipped around him as he stood at the top of the spire as it slowly built to a crescendo. In the end he hardly thought about it, truly paid it no mind. For if the only purpose of his living left him, disgusted by his actions, why should he stay without him?

It was with that final thought that he reached the edge of the spire and did what he thought was unthinkable, undoable even.

He stepped off, and this time he didn't have a one-up.


	2. After Game Over

The marble wall was cold against Peach’s naked back. She stretched against it, presenting the clean canvas of her neck to her lover. Toadette nipped and sucked, pressing Peach further into the wall. Their dresses lay pooled at their feet as they writhed against each other.

They’d both been holding out on this for far too long, and it felt good, so good to simply be together after a wait of forever.

But a shriek jolted then out of their haze, and Peach let out a gasp as her partner dropped her several inches down the wall in shock.

They exchanged glances before quickly dressing, just enough to look decent, before hurrying to the castle gates, hands locked tightly together.

Their hands stayed clasped until they reached the entrance to the castle, when both hands became lax from the shock of the scene laid out before them. Mario laid there, lost to all time and now to this world, only clasping a letter he had written. The ink was faded from years of aging and the creases and kinks had become prominent from handling it over and over again. As they nervously advanced closer, they could make out that the letter was addressed to Toad. They both exchanged furtive glances until Toadette nervously advanced forward and grasped the letter dedicated to her ex-lover.

Toad:

All the time in the world would not be enough to apologize for how many times I have shunned your advances, broken your searching gaze and pushed you away when there is nothing I want more desperately that to return them.

My own selfishness led me to reject your advances, to value mere material things more than the burning love I have for you. This is a crime I feel I can never atone for no matter what I could try and do, you would always harbour resentment towards me. And you would be right to do so.

I don't think I can cross the gulf I have foolishly torn between us, and even now my ego forbids me from even trying.

The pain I have caused you is unforgivable, and I understand that. I only want to tell you this so you can move on and find someone so much better than I could ever have been.  
I'm sorry.

\- Someone who I hope you could have loved in a different world.

From his family home on the hillside, Toad could see the kingdom. As a child he’d dreamed of joining the court held within the castle walls, and his teenage years turned those dreams into a reality when he’d been hired as a steward.

In many ways, Toad’s life felt like a level in a platformer. His home marked the very start of his journey, and the castle was the end goal. He thought about this as he settled at the table and looked at the kitchen clock.

He reluctantly let his gaze drop to the window’s view of the castle. His childhood felt so close when he sat and looked at it like this. Exact same view, he chuckled. 

He froze. He was wrong. This wasn’t the view he was used to.

The palace stood as it always did, not a brick out place. What had caught his gaze flickered high above the tower. But not high enough.

The mushroom kingdom flag had only ever been flown half mast once before, at a time most of the kingdom would rather forget.

The reign of Bowser was a dark time for them all, not just the royal family. The Battle of Lava Lake was the most brutal. Thousands of toads were lost to the goombas. 

Though the kingdom won the war, the checkered flag bowed low for the lives lost in the bloodbath.

All this to say: the only possible reason to lower the flag now would be a royal death. 

Any semblance of rationality crumbled in Toad’s head as he stumbled out of the door and sprinted to be by his prince’s side.

The hard gravel cut into Toad's feet as he desperately raced to get to the castle, his vision narrowing down until it was just focussed on the flag flying low- far too low in the sky. Everything going on around him was background noise, a minor concern compared to the desperate need to check that Mario was okay. He had to be okay because otherwise...

No. He wouldn't allow himself to believe it. He wouldn't even let himself think it for fear that he would collapse as a mess, his reality falling into shards around him if he heard the news he was so ardently dreading.

As he drew closer to the castle, he saw the unmoving tableau before him- the harsh reality he was forced to face. It couldn't be true. Mario would always be there just as the sun would always rise. He refused to believe that he could be gone.

And yet the scene before him told him all he needed to know. He dropped to his knees and started emitting broken cries that could only be made by someone who's heart was just ripped out.

Time was quiet in the months after Mario’s death. Mourning periods always are.

Peach and Toadette formed a partnership. As much as they loved one another, they needed time to figure out what their life after death would bring.

The kingdom stood still for a while. It became an empty yet peaceful place to be alone. The people’s figurehead had tumbled into the sea, and laughter felt a little lost without him.

To Toad, the quiet was horribly deafening. When he’d been found on the palace steps the day Mario’s death, he’d been unable to speak over the noise in his head.

The absolute silence of the night had driven him mad. His voice told him to get up. To eat. To sing, to dance, to do anything to wake himself up from his stupor.

He missed the funeral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a mess that me and my friend wrote in dms to each other at 2am. I’m sorry you had to see it but I hope you enjoyed(?) it nonetheless. 
> 
> My tumblr is @foroguemon  
> My instagram is @platycatowner
> 
> My friends tumblr is @pinky—lemon
> 
> Thanks for reading <33


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